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My thoughts on 'karma' or simple up/down rating systems: A few years ago, I discovered a site called Reddit. After awhile, I realized there were comments on t
by georgieporgie 16y ago
My thoughts on 'karma' or simple up/down rating systems:
A few years ago, I discovered a site called Reddit. After awhile, I realized there were comments on the site, and began reading them. While a few added to my enjoyment and understanding of the articles, I have to admit that what really attracted me were the pun threads.
Well, I thought I would attempt this interesting variety of interaction. I began to post my thoughts on subjects. I was surprised to see that my well thought-out comments were getting downvoted. Sometimes quite strongly.
Hmm... I reexamined my arguments and how I conveyed them. I experimented with different ways of expressing myself. However, most of the time when I made a comment which I thought was a bit insightful, I would see negative karma.
Finally, I changed my approach. Instead of thinking about a subject and writing what I thought of it, I instead peppered the site with knee-jerk, humorous comments.
My greatest success, by the way, was a one-line "your mom" joke which earned me something like 270 karma for a couple of seconds' work.
I found the worst problem to be in the subreddits. As I quickly learned, subreddits are inhabited by people who want their views validated. Even correcting dangerous misconceptions around basic physics would get harsh downvotes. Meanwhile, comments which perpetuated the status quo of ignorance were celebrated.
Up/down community rating does not provide any sort of legitimacy to posters. It only provides popularity. As one who doesn't take political advice from movie stars (for example), I find it appalling that this system is spreading.
As for the specifics of downvoting repeatedly, this is simple lynch mob mentality. A -1 rating has just as much power to say, "we don't like the way you express yourself," as a -10 rating. The only thing that -10 adds is a reflection of groupthink and people venting angst.